Coupe des Mousquetaires (French Open - Gentlemen's single)

La Coupe des Mousquetaires (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: The Musketeers' Trophy) is the trophy awarded to the winner of the Men's Singles competition at the French Open. The trophy was created in its current form in 1981, after

Philippe Chatrier Philippe Chatrier (; 2 February 1928 – 22 June 2000) was a French tennis player. After his playing career ended, he became a journalist, and was then involved in sports administration. He was president of the French Tennis Federation for 20 y ...

, then president of the

Fédération Française de Tennis The French Tennis Federation (french: Fédération française de tennis, FFT) is the governing body for tennis in France. It was founded in 1920, and is tasked with the organisation, co-ordination and promotion of the sport. It is recognised by the ...

(FFT), offered jewellers in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

the opportunity to redesign it. It is supposed to symbolise the victories of four famous French tennis players, who together make up the " Four Musketeers" :

Jacques Brugnon Jacques Marie Stanislas Jean Brugnon (11 May 1895 – 20 March 1978), nicknamed "Toto", was a French tennis player, one of the famous " Four Musketeers" from France who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He was born in and died ...

Jean Borotra Jean Laurent Robert Borotra (, ; 13 August 1898 – 17 July 1994) was a French tennis champion. He was one of the " Four Musketeers" from his country who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Borotra was imprisoned in Itter Castle ...

Henri Cochet Henri Jean Cochet (; 14 December 1901 – 1 April 1987) was a French tennis player. He was a world No. 1 ranked player, and a member of the famous " Four Musketeers" from France who dominated tennis in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Born in ...

and

René Lacoste Jean René Lacoste was a French tennis player and businessman. He was nicknamed "the Crocodile" because of how he dealt with his opponents; he is also known worldwide as the creator of the Lacoste tennis shirt, which he introduced in 1929, and e ...

. The design eventually chosen was that of the family jeweller Mellerio. The trophy has a wide aperture, bordered with vine leaves and decorated with two swan-shaped handles. The trophy has an engraving on the front that says "''Internationaux de France''" (''English'': French International f Tennis, the official name of the French Open in French. The trophy is housed in the office of the president of the FFT, and is only removed once every year when the Men's Singles winner at the French Open is announced. The only exception was in 2009, when the FFT allowed

Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, including a record 237 consecutive weeks, and finished as the year-e ...

to keep the ''Coupe des Mousquetaires'' for just a few hours because he wanted to show the trophy to his father who was unable to attend the final. However, Federer was accompanied by four bodyguards, including two who spent the night in front of his room and the trophy was finally returned the next day. The winner does not get to keep the actual trophy; a new replica is produced every year that the player gets to keep. The replica, which is always smaller than the original that is displayed during the trophy ceremony, is made from a sheet of solid

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

, and takes over one hundred hours to complete. Rafael Nadal won the 50th year Open era anniversary French Open title. The original trophy weighs 14 kg, is 40 cm high and 19 cm wide. A one time full-size replica of the Coupe des Mousquetaires was awarded to

Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked world No. 1 for 209 weeks, and has finish ...

for his 10th win of the French Open in June 2017. It has the exact same measurements as the original trophy, with the only difference being the original trophy's marble base substituted for a simple black coloured base with a different inscription: on the base of Nadal's trophy is the title 'Decima' meaning 'Tenth' in Spanish and below it listing of all of Nadal's French Open titles up to that date (2005–08, 2010–14, 2017). Nadal went on to win an eleventh title in 2018, this marked the 50th year of the

Open era The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Birmingham, England now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sp ...

in professional tennis, which started at the 1968 French Open.

Notes and references

{{reflist French Open Tennis awards Silver objects

See also

Notes and references